The Seven Sorrows Devotion

Note: The examples are subjective, personal contemplations, and therefore do not contain mystical revelations. Also, the examples provided explore each sorrow in great detail. They are meant to provide the reader with a jumping-off point for contemplation, and are not meant to be read after or before each Hail Mary. The devotion is much simpler than that: the contemplation of each of her seven sorrows during the space and time it takes to say one Hail Mary for each of them.

Furthermore, during the One Hail Mary for each sorrow it is not necessary to contemplate ALL aspects of that particular sorrow---one or two will be sufficient.

First Sorrow---The Prophecy of Simeon---First Hail Mary.

Meditation: This child is set for the fall and rise of many in Israel and for a sign which shall be contradicted.

Example: It is the news that her darling Infant Son will be rejected. At once, she knows, supernaturally, that it is the news of His murder. It slams into her heart, and she stands looking dazed for a bit. Then, she falls back a step as if the slam into her chest had been physical.

Now, she begins to feel the full force of the pain. She is caught in a downpour and there is nothing she can do about the flood of heartache that envelops her. Then, Simeon says still more, "And a sword of sorrow shall pierce your heart that out of many hearts thoughts may be revealed." She is devastated as she stumbles out of the temple with St. Joseph. She sheds quiet tears for many days, hiding her pain from St. Joseph.

Second Sorrow---The Flight into Egypt---Second Hail Mary

Meditation: St. Joseph was warned in a dream that King Herod is planning to seek out and kill the Infant Lord Jesus. The family flees into Egypt.

Example: Mary is woken from a sound sleep by St. Joseph who tells her that an angel warned him that they must flee into Egypt because Herod wants to kill the Infant Jesus. She is panicked and wonders if the prophecy of Simeon is about to be fulfilled as she hurries, fully frightened and awake to flee with her tiny Son.

They pack quickly and leave in the middle of the night. Mary wraps her little Boy close to her under her mantle to hide him, she is constantly watching in back, in front, and to the sides, knowing that the King's soldiers are probably searching for any infants who might be leaving the area. She knows Herod's soldiers are brutal and cruel and think nothing of skewering an innocent, little infant. She prays, placing herself and her Son in God's Will.

Third Sorrow---The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple---Third Hail Mary

Meditation: Mary and St. Joseph travel a long way back to Jerusalem, searching for the 12-year-old Jesus.

Example: She thought He was with St. Joseph and St. Joseph thought He was with Mary. They were used to dealing with an incredibly intelligent and obedient child and knew that Jesus would be with the caravan when it left Jerusalem. They'd traveled a day's journey, when stopping with the caravan for rest and refreshment, they realized He wasn't with either of them, or among their friends or kinsmen.

They couldn't help but think that He must have met with foul play because he was too conscientious and considerate to simply have missed the caravan. They were in great sorrow and anxiety as they braved the journey back to Jerusalem, seeking Him. They sought Him for three fearful days without word or sign of him.

In these days of policemen and telephones, we are terrified if our children disappear over night. Imagine what it felt like to be alone and searching in vain for three days with no help and no communication devices. My own 6-year-old son went missing for ONLY half an hour. He was not the type of child to wander. He should have been on the school bus or at the school. He was neither place, and I thought I was just going to die.

Fourth Sorrow---Mary Meets Jesus on the Way to Calvary

Meditation: Mary and Jesus meet along the path to Calvary amid the jeers and noise of the crowd.

Example: Mary scrambles through the crowd searching for a way to meet up with her Divine Son before He is crucified. The crowd is crude and inconsiderate and she is pushed around, but she knows she must make her way through. When they meet, He is unrecognizable except for His eyes. They agree to say goodbye in silence through their eyes. The sword of sorrow is thrust into her maternal heart. At this depth of sorrow, it feels physical. It has not yet been thrust all the way through. It stays in her like that. What more can be said? As He walks away, she says in her heart, "Goodbye, my dearest Love."

Fifth Sorrow---The Crucifixion---Fifth Hail Mary

Meditation: Our Lord Jesus is crucified for our sins.

Example: Our Lord waits for the Romans to prepare His cross. The look on His face is one who is frail and lost in a jungle of woe. It is not that of the God that He really is. Because she is His Mother, Mary aches to comfort Him, but she can't. So, at the sight of Him, the sword of sorrow that has been torturing her is thrust in yet further. Then, Our Lord Jesus lies on the cross gently when told to do so, and one can immediately recognize that He is the Lamb of God. They begin to nail his hands and feet to the cross, showing no pity or restraint.

Saint John holds her. Every time the hammer's sound breaks the air like thunder, her body, as if it were separate from her will, shakes and jumps. It is from someplace deep inside of her. She has no control over it. It is deeply disturbing to Saint John who already empathizes strongly with her pain. Jesus is raised and the long vigil begins. She will not sit to rest while He lives and yet suffers, and for His sake, neither will she cry out. She knows it would break His Heart. Her courage is palpable and permeates the air, now uplifting and comforting St. John, and those around her who are mourning the Lord.

Sixth Sorrow---Jesus Is Taken Down from the Cross and Laid in His Mother's Arms---Sixth Hail Mary

Meditation: Jesus has died. They take Him down from the cross and Our Mother cradles Him in her arms.

Example: The Lord Jesus dies. When His soul escapes from His body, her grief escapes from her soul. She falls to her knees and falls apart. She cannot stop the torrent of tears. The dam of sorrow has broken and she is overcome and taken down by it. Then, the soldier has a call from the Lord God in Heaven. He feels it as a call, but his logic says he must do it in order to ascertain whether Jesus, the King of the Jews is dead.

He rises from the ground with purpose, and draws his sword. Mary sees him going towards her Son and since she cannot stand to see another blasphemy perpetrated on the sacred Body of the Lord. She objects and says, "No, please don't. Please, don't! Please, don't!!!" He ignores her and she cries harder and louder, overcome.

As the sword pierces through the Heart of Our Lord Jesus, the sword of sorrow that has tortured her own heart is thrust all the way through. Our Lord Jesus' Heart has given everything inside it to the world---the last drop of Blood and then the remaining water which pours out upon the ground, sanctifying the whole earth. Mary's Heart is simply no more. In that moment it became the Immaculate Heart of Mary--- like an entity unto itself.

Her friends take Our Lord down and hand Him to her.

Everyone who contemplates them in the living Pieta knows that one can no longer go to the Lord without going through His Mother. They are one in perfect and complete sadness. There is no going back. She will guard His Body with her life. In every tabernacle, in every church, forever.

Seventh Sorrow---The Burial of Our Lord Jesus Christ---Seventh Hail Mary

Meditation: Our Lord Jesus is placed in the tomb, and the stone is rolled against it. Mary's grief is complete.

Example: The holy Mother did not anticipate the renewed bout of grief that came upon her as the stone was rolled into place in front of the tomb and came to a stop. It was a living period on the sentence of her life with Jesus, the Son of the Living God. How could anything seem beautiful or right again without Him? He was her all, and her everything.

She plastered herself to the stone, and shed quiet tears there. Her friends remained silent and still, not knowing what to do with this incredible scene of sorrow evoking great and immovable pity in them. It was sacred and they did not know how to move on from it. Finally, St. John, moved by the spirit of the Lord Jesus Himself, went to her and said, "Come now, Mary." The holy Mother could feel her Son in him and moved with Him because of it. At the same time that St. John had touched her and brought her from the stone, Mary heard her Immaculate Heart say within herself, "Arise, my love, arise." She repeated this to herself many times over the next three days in anticipation of His Resurrection.

Conclusion: Mary wants to love and save us all. It never seems that prayer can effect much, but it CAN---it truly CAN!! Try it and see. Just be with her EVERY DAY in this very small way and she will be with you throughout your life and when you die, she will speak volumes of love for you to her dear Son, Jesus who has since been eternally returned to her.